Time-operated coin-controlled signal apparatus



Jan. 14, 1941. c. H. MARTIN 2,228,396

TIME-OPERATED COIN-CONTROLLED SIGNAL APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1959 2SheetsSheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

jg j; ATTORNEE C. H. MARTIN Jan. 14, 1941.

TIME-OPERATED COIN-CONTROLLED SIGNAL APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 1941 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE TIME-OPERATED COIN-CONTROLLED SIGNAL APPARATUS Charles H. Martin, West Springfield, Mass.

Application August 28, 1939, Serial No. 292,171

6 Claims. (01. 194-78) This invention relates to improvements in timepermitting the deposit of one coin only at a time.

operated coin-controlled signal apparatus and is According tov my invention, the meter may be directed more particularly to a novel apparatus set to give, say twelve minutes for one cent, now known as a parking meter. twenty-four minutes for two cents, three times It is a principal object of the invention to protwelve minutes for three cents, and so on or to 5 vide a parking meter including a time mechanism give one hour for five cents, two hours for two that is under the influence of a coin-controlled nickels and so on. The pennies and/or nickels mechanism and the constructionissuch that coins for the time one wishes to stay may all be deof varying denominations may be employed. posited at one time, which is not possible with 10 That is to say, according to this invention, a coin meters heretofore known. 10

of certain denomination may be employed to set It is a still further object of the invention to the timing mechanism for a certain period of time provide an apparatus where the last coin dewhile another coin of different denomination may posited is in full view until another coin is debe employed to set the timing mechanism for a posited to take its place. This effectively preshorter or longer period. As a special feature, vents the use of slugs as is desirable from the 15 a plurality of coins may be deposited to set the point of view of the city government, at least. mechanism for a period of time totalling the Various other novel features and advantages of periods affected by the several coins. the invention will be hereinafter more fully re- The apparatus of the invention is characterized ferred to in connection with the accompanying deby a signal which is shiftable. between signaling scription of the invention, in the present preferred 20 and non-signaling locations or positions by means form thereof, reference being had to the accomof a timing mechanism which, as stated, is under panying drawings wherein: the control of a coin-actuated mechanism. In its Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the parking broad aspects, the parking meter construction of meter of the invention; the invention is such that the operator of a ve- Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of what is shown hicle may deposit a coin or coins in the apparatus in Fig. 1;

and set the time mechanism in operation to locate Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the meter of the signal in one position with the signal movable the invention with the outer casing removed to to another position at the expiration of a definite explain certain novel features; length of time depending upon the coin or coins Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of the coin 30 deposited. receiving member;

By reason of its novel construction, the timing Fig. 5'is a plan view of a plurality of lever memmechanism never needs to bewound as is the case bers forming a part of the invention; and with the so-called full automatic" parking meters Fig. 6 is a plan view on a large scale of the coin- 5 known in the art. At the same time, I retain all receiving means of the invention. the advantages of such meters and provide an Referring now to the drawings more in detail, arrangement whereby the parker need only dethe invention will be fully described. posit the desired coin or coins in a single slot and The meter preferably includes a housing 2 which the coins automatically set the device in operamay be supported in any suitable way, as by a tion for the allotted period of time. standard 4. The housing 2 is hollow and there 40 It is also an object of the invention to provide may be a door 6 overlying an opening therein, a parking meter having a movable signal which which door is preferably provided with a window is adapted to visibly indicate whether the vehicle 8 for a purpose later to appear. There is also is rightfully parked. As will appear, the coin an opening or slot in a side wall of the casing mechanism winds the clock mechanism to run as through which a coin-receiving member, described 45 many minutes as the motorist is allowed for his below, projects.

coin or coins and when the time is up, the clock There is a transparent dome 9 on the housing mechanism stops and a signal immediately beand a signal i0 is movable between an upper, comes visible to indicate the fact. signaling or visible position within the dome and Some of the advantages of the construction of a lower, non-signaling or non-visible position. At 50 this invention is that the time periods are flexible. the expiration of a predetermined period of time, That is to say, any time or price arrangement can according to the setting of the timing mechanism be set up as contrasted with the usual practice in a way described below, the signal is elevated to of setting a definite period of one hour for the indicate that the paid-for parking time has exdeposit of a single coin, such as a nickel, and of pired while, as will appear, the insertion of a coin 55 will simultaneously set the timing mechanism and cause the signal to disappear.

A slotted plate member i2, preferably formed somewhat as shown in Fig. 4, receives and acts as a guiding slot for a coin or coins and this may be supported on a plate Ii within the housing. Said member i2 has a part projecting outwardly of the casing provided with an entrance opening or aperture such as i4 for the coin. If desired, of course, the arrangement could be such that the coin would be inserted in the outer end of the slot of the slotted member l2.

A means is provided to move the coin inwardly into the housing and into and through the member l2 and, according to the form shown, this means includes a handle or door member I! having a recess i8 extending inwardly from a side thereof adjacent the casing within whichis secured, as

by rivet or pin 20, a coin-engaging part 22. Said part 22 preferably has its inner end notched as shown to provide spaced cam surfaces 24 and 26.

As will be seen, the construction is such that in closed position (Fig. 1) the door i6 covers up aperture i4 and protects it from the elements, while in open position (Fig. 6) the part 22 prevents insertion of an implement or the like endwise of member l2 which would cheat the device. The upward swinging movement of member I 6 is limited by engagement of the upper edge of slot i8 and member I 2.

The members i6 and 22 are pivoted to the apparatus for swinging movements relative thereto as on a pin 28 extending therethrough and through the upper part of the outwardly projecting portion of the coin-receiving member i2. When a coin is inserted in the slot and the handle swung downwardly, it is first engaged by the cam 20 and continued downward movement of the handle on pivot 28 brings about engagement of the coin and cam 24 so that the coin is urged inwardly.

A plunger member 30 is slidable within the member i 2 and this has upper and lower cam surfaces 32 and 34 respectively on its outer or lefthand end. Inward movement of a relatively large coin will bring about engagement thereof with the higher cam 32 while the penny will engage the lower cam 34.

The coin receiving member I2 is provided with a discharge slot 36 in its lower side for allowing any coin to drop downwardly away therefrom whenever said coin is urged to a point above the slot. It will be obvious that since the higher cam 32 is forwardly, or to the left, of cam 34, an inwardly-moving larger coin will engage the plunger sooner than will a smaller coin.

Or in other words, a nickel will move plunger 30 to the right a greater distance, before it is discharged through slot 36, than will a penny moving in the same direction. Thus the coin of the smaller denomination, when actuated by the driving member 22, will move the driven member 30 a lesser distance than will the coin of greater value.

It is desirable that some means be provided to urge the plunger 30 to the left again as soon as the coin deposited has been discharged. This is so that the plunger is ready to be driven by another coin should the operator so desire and while this means may vary in form, in the embodiment shown, it includes a coiled spring I having opposite ends attached to the immovable member [2 and the slidable plunger 30.

For a purpose, which will immediately be described, the plunger 30 has an outwardly projecting pin 40 and it is to this that one end of spring 34 may be attached. The other end of the spring may be attached to a pin 42 ofmanber l2. The forward face of said member i2 is provided with a slot or cut-away portion, as shown, to expose the forward central portion of slide 34 and the pin 40 extends outwardly in said cut-away from member 34 as shown in Fig. 3.

There may, of course, be any number of cam surfaces on both part 22 and munber 3.. That istosay,thepartsmaybeoonsh'uctedtoaccommodate coins of varying sin: and it will be appreciated that the distance which plunger II is moved to the right will dependupon which cam of the plunger is engaged and the relation of that cam to the discharge slot.

On the rear side of the plate Ii is a time or clockwork mechanism indicated gaserally by 44 and of any well-known form. That is to my. the particular construction of the time mechanism is not important, it only being necemsry that it include the usual timing mechanism consisting of gears and springs arranged in such a way that a shaft may be rotated in one direction to wind the mechanism so that it operates for a definite, predetermined length of time and will rotate in an opposite or unwinding direction as the mechanism runs down and the time puiod expires.

This shaft is shown at 46 and it preferably extends outwardly above the path of movement of slidable part Iii. Fixed on this shaft are a plurality of levers, about to be described, arranged in such a way as to be capable of engagement by pin 4| when member Ill moves to the rkht.

One of the lever members is shown at ll in Fig.5andthishasabodypartpmvldedwithan aperture 52 for receiving the shaft 48. This memberisslottedatflsoastoformapairofspaced lever parts 56 and II as shown.

Another lever member is shown at 60 in Fig. 5 and this has a shaft-receiving opening 82. l'brmed to have spaced lever parts 84. 44 and I, the memher also preferably is provided with a rearwardly extending pin 69 for a purpose later to be apparent.

Still another lever member II is shown in Fig. 5 and this has a square opening I2 for receiving a squared portion of the clock's shaft 4. so as to be non-rotatable relative thereto. While the members 50 and 60 may be rotatable on shaft 46, it will be appreciated that sinm member I. is not rotatable relative to the shaft any swinging movement of lever III will bring about rotation of the clock shaft.

Said member ill is provided with an abutment 14 which is engaged by part 64 of lever II whenever the latter swings to the right so that lever member III is also swung to the right and shaft 46 is thereby rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. Members 50 and 40 are also preferably provided with abutments I! and '5 respectively arranged for co-operative e actment so that when lever 50 is swung to the right member I and, by means thereof, member II are swung to the right. 7

The construction and arrangement of these levers are preferably such that when a penny is deposited to drive plunger 3. to the right, pin 40 will engage lever part (ride into slot 54, and urge said part 64 to the right a distance which will bring about sufflcient rotation of shaft 46 to wind the clock for a parking period of, say, twelve minutes. If this is all the time desired, the operator will, of course, deposit no further coins and at the expiration of the period, the clock will have rotated its shaft in a clockwise Agis'c'naa an is held in this position, until another. is discharged, by a member 64 which is slidable relative to a part 96, fixedly disposed direction, member thereon will havenrged clock for the desired period.

Again if an hour's parking is wished, the. deposit of a nickel will cause the pin to engagev lever 64 and move it to the right a greater dis tance so that shaft 46 is rotated the proper amount and lever 66 will be found adjacent pin two hours.

Three hours of parking time may be obtained}.

by employing a third nickel to drive pin 40finto engagement with lever 66 which, by reason of the construction shown, will then be adjacent said,

...member.j i

Thatis. to say, the arrangement is such that the same member 22 acts on the different sized coins andfurge'sthem against the same plunger ,which, inturn, is driven varying amounts depin. It is preferable that a coil spring 16 be pro vlded to urge the successive lever members into, the normal position shown in Fig. 3. This spring may have its opposite ends attached to abutment, 55 on member 50 and an abutment 16 on member 10 and while it will allow any necessary rela; tive rotation of members 50 and 60 and shaft '46,

it will result in the levers returning to their desired abutting relationship after any rotation of the clock shaft so that the deposit of any subsequent coin will bring about the movement of fixed member 10 necessary to rotate the shaft the proper amount.

Pivoted on shaft 46 is a signal shifting lever 80. This normally is engaged by pin 69 and when the apparatus is not in operation, the parts are so arranged that said lever 80 is held in the position shown in Fig. 3.

In that position, the outer or free end of member 80 is in engagement with a crank portion 82 of a member 84 which is pivoted as on a pin 86 attached to plate II.. In this non-operating position of the parts controlling the clock-mechanism, said member 84 holds signal In in its elevated position.

If desired, the signal may be guided on a vertical support, such as rod 88, but inany event it will be seen that when the period of time paid for has expired and the clock has run down so that clockwise rotation of shaft 46 has brought the successive lever members to the position shown in Fig. 3, the signal is visible to indicate that a coin must be deposited before parking can be permitted. On the other hand, the setting in motion of the apparatus by the deposit of a coin will move lever 60 counter-clockwise so that pin 69 moves downwardly through an arc which permits lever 80 to move downwardly.

The member 84, since it rides on the free end of lever 80, will automatically swing downwardly on its pivot. This permits the signal to drop to a non-signalling position for the period of time paid for, only to appear again when the allotted time expires.

Projecting outwardly from the front face of plate H are a pair of spaced rib members 90 and 92. These members are below the coin-discharge slot 36 and so formed and arranged that a discharged coin C is guided to the position shown in Fig. 3. In this position the coin will be visible through window 8 so that counte feits can be detected.

adjacent the, lower ends of ribs 90 and 92. That is, the member 64' is normally in the coin-engaging position shown in Fig. 3 and'is moved there from only when a second coin is discharged.

This mayQbe accomplished by a series cf .Ypivoted-together-links 96, the upper ofwhich is ,in the path ofmovement of pinlll, as shown, and

the other ofwhich has an end pivoted to slidable memberll- Preferably a spring I06 has opposite endsattached to said lower link and the supporting structure to urge the member 94 to 40. The immediate deposit of a second five-cent piece then will cause lever 66 to be moved toythe, right so that the clock is wound for a total .of

its normal position.

v It will fbe seenthat according to my construc- Jfcoin chute forthese various coins but there is but asingle driving member and asingle driven pending ,upon jthe number of coins previously 5 .therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a member having a longitudinallyextending open-ended coin-receiving slot and an entrance opening for coins adjacent the end of said member leading into said slot, an operating handle pivoted to said member adjacent said opening, a slide reciprocable in said slot, and a coinengaging member carried by said handle having a part operable in said slot as said handle swings in one direction to act on a coin in said slot and cause the same to reciprocate said slide.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising in combinatior, a chute member having a longitudinally-extending and horizontally-disposed open-ended coin-receiving slot, an operating handle adjacent said slot, a slide reciprocable in said slot, and a coin-engaging member carried by said handle having a part operable in said slot to act on a coin therein and cause the same to reciprocate said slide, said slide being formed to have one surface for actuating engagement by a coin of one dimension and another surface for actuating engagement by a coin of a different dimension.

3. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of, a chute member having a longitudinally-extending open-ended slot ior receiving coins of varying dimensions and provided'with an opening in its lower side spaced from the open end of the slot for permitting the gravitational discharge of any coin inserted, a coin-engaging member having a part movable in said slot for engaging any coin inserted in said open end thereof and moving it towards said opening, a slide longitudinally reciprocable within said slot arranged to be initially engaged by any inserted coin when the latter is moved towards said opening by said coin-engaging member, said slide being so formed and normally located with respect to said slot and coin-engaging member as to be reciprocated various distances according to the dimension of the particular coin which is inserted and acted upon by the coin-engaging member, said discharge slot being so located with respect to said coin-engaging member and slide as to permit discharge of each coin when the same has reciprocated the slide to the extent intended.

4. Apparatus of the class described comprising in combination, a member having a longitudinally-extending open-ended coin-receiving slot and' an entrance opening for coins adjacent the end of said member leading into said slot, an operating handle pivoted to said member adjacent said opening, a slide reciprocable in said slot, a coin-engaging member carried by said handle having a part operable in said slot as said handle swings in one direction to act on a coin in said slot and cause the same to reciprocate said slide. said handle being recessed and said coin-engaging member being pivoted therein.

5. Apparatus oi the class described comprising in combination, a member having a longitudinally-extending open-ended coin-receiving slot and an entrance opening for coins adjacent the end of said member leading into said slot, an operating handle pivoted to said member adjacent said opening, a slide reciprocable in said slot, a coinengaging member carried by said handle having a part operable in said slot as said handle swings in one direction to act on a coin in said slot and cause the same to reciprocate said slide, said part oi said handle being provided with a plurality oi. cam surfaces arranged to engage coins of diiierent dimensions.

6. Apparatus oi the class described comprising in combination, a member having a longitudinally-extending open-ended coin-receiving slot and an entrance opening for coins adjacent the end of said member leading into said slot, an operating handle pivoted to said member adjacent said opening, a slide reciprocable in said slot, a coin-engaging member carried by said handle having a part operable in said slot as said handle swings in one direction to act on a coin in said slot and cause the same to reciprocate said slide, and means normally urging said slide in the direction of said entrance opening.

CHARLES H. MARTIN. 

